Atheist Ireland is seeking your help today to launch and shape a new long-term campaign with two important aims: to repeal the new Irish blasphemy law and to attain a secular Irish Constitution. Specifically, we are asking you to do three things: send us a message of support, get actively involved in shaping this project, and lobby to persuade Irish politicians to pursue these policies.

We will soon be holding public meetings around Ireland to launch this campaign. We want it to include religious and nonreligious people working together, within Ireland and with international support. The campaign has one common aim that transcends any other differences we may have: that all Irish citizens, of all beliefs and none, can live together in equality, with the State being neutral on matters of religion.

In recent decades, several independent and all-party committees (most whose members were Christians) have repeatedly called for an end to discrimination against nonreligious citizens in our Constitution. Not only has this not been done, but a new religious crime has now been created. The blasphemy law is the final straw. We need a secular Irish Constitution, and we need it now. Please help to make this happen.

Our Immediate Aim: Repeal the Blasphemy Law

The Defamation Act 2009 makes blasphemy a crime punishable by a €25,000 fine, after the Minister for Justice signs the commencement order in mid-October. Blasphemy is defined as “matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion” with safeguards to make it harder to prosecute.

Regardless of the detail, it is wrong in principle for a modern democratic republic to have any type of blasphemy law. Theological thought-crimes belong in the past. Religious and nonreligious people alike should be protected from harm and incitement to harm, but religious and nonreligious ideas alike should be open to any criticism. That is how human knowledge progresses. Blasphemy laws discriminate against nonreligious citizens, by protecting the fundamental beliefs of religious citizens only.

This law also has serious international impacts. Irish citizens could face blasphemy charges elsewhere under the European Arrest Warrant. Also, Islamic States are lobbying at the UN to make defamation of religion a crime internationally. Ireland has voted along with the other EU States against this, because Islamic States can use blasphemy laws to justify religious persecution. These Islamic States can now point to a modern pluralist Western State passing a new blasphemy law in the 21st century.

Our Overall Aim: A Secular Irish Constitution

We have a blasphemy law because the Irish Constitution of 1937 says we should have one. And our Constitution also discriminates against nonreligious citizens in many other ways. For example, you cannot become President or a Judge unless you take a religious oath asking God to direct and sustain your work. So up to a quarter of a million Irish people cannot hold these offices without swearing a lie. This is contrary to Ireland’s obligations under the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Preamble states that all authority of the State comes from, and all actions of the State must be referred to, the Most Holy Trinity. Article 44 states that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God and that the State shall hold His Name in reverence. This is not merely an assertion of the right of citizens to worship this god. It is an assertion of the right of this god to be worshipped by citizens.

The Constitution also contains many other references to this god and to religion generally. Our national parliament reflects this by starting each day’s business with a prayer explicitly asking the Christian God to direct all of their actions. Under this guidance, they have legislated for many public policies that are heavily influenced by religion.

We should be removing these 1930s religious references from our Constitution, not creating new crimes to enforce them seventy years later. A modern secular Constitution would allow all citizens, whether religious or nonreligious, to live together as equals with the State being neutral on matters of religion.

Our Request to You: Please Help This Campaign

The blasphemy law is the final straw. We now need a secular Irish Constitution. We will soon be holding public meetings around the country to shape this campaign for equality for and by all Irish citizens, of any or no religious beliefs. But we will be much more likely to succeed if we have national and international support.

Here are three ways that you can help:

One, please send us a message of support. Just a few lines will do. We want to be able to show that there is a wide support for these ideals.

Two, please let us know if you would like to get actively involved in any way. You are more than welcome to help shape how this project evolves.

Three, in whatever way you can, please help to lobby Irish politicians at national and international level to implement these policies.

This will be a lengthy campaign, but a very worthwhile one that you can be proud to have played your part in. We look forward to working alongside you to build an ethical and secular Ireland.

Modern society needs to be thinking about how to get mankind advancements to the level of good Galaxy citizens. If and when we make it to free – if you can afford it outer space living we should not be seemingly primates afraid of our own shadow.

When I first read about this, it sounded like a bad joke. Now that I find out it’s dead serious, I can only say this is an aberrant law, because:

– such a law contradicts the principles of freedom of free thought and speech;
– “blasphemy” will never be an objective term (it has a different meaning, according to the religion you adhere to); the term is subject to endless (mis)interpretation.

Blasphemy laws are a ridiculous anachronism in any state that purports to belong to a global community. The law is discriminatory against the non-religious, who under the law can only ever be a perpetrator, never a victim, and will only serve to obstruct legitimate and necessary criticism of religious beliefs and practices. Every Irish citizen should be opposed to this affront to freedom of speech and thought. All over the world, the non-religious can now look at the state of affairs in their own country and say: “At least I don’t live in Ireland.”

It is indeed hard to believe this isn’t a bad joke.
In light of the very recent momentous Irish child abuse scandal spanning the larger part of the 20th century it is not rocket science to understand why no area of society can be above criticism.

The first step, in my view, towards getting anyone’s attention in terms of changing the constitution, is for there to be official acknowledgement that a sizeable percentage of Irish people do not believe in gods.

We can hold as many polls as we like, hold as many meetings as we like, blog as much as we like, but the reality is that the last census shows 96% claiming to be of some religion or other, so how can you expect to be taken seriously?

The answer? Your next action should be campaigning for the wording on the census form to be updated to provide accurate results. Seriously – read on…

Instead of asking which religion a person belongs to, the question must be changed to read something close to this:

Q1. Do you believe in a God, as a supreme being? Yes [ ] No [ ]
*This question refers to any of the Gods as described by various religions. If you believe that there is no supreme being, or perhaps just that ‘God is nature’, or that ‘God is love’, then you should answer ‘No’ to this question.

If you answered ‘No’ to Q1, please proceed to Q4

Q2. If you answered ‘YES’ to Q1, do you practice your religion regularly? Yes [ ] No [ ]

What does this change achieve? Well, there are a great many Irish people who will answer ‘Catholic’ to the current question even though they don’t believe in gods. Even comedian Dara O’Braoin said at one of his shows that he doesn’t believe in ‘God’ but he’s still a “Catholic” because “it’s something to write on the census form”. Many Irish people think of ‘Catholic’ as something akin to nationality, they were born with it, that’s what they are – even if they don’t believe in gods. Many others misunderstand the words ‘Catholic’ or ‘Christian’ to mean some sort of morality, or goodness, and it’s a label they like to claim.

Because people are doing this on the census form – an illusion is created that we are 96% religious as a nation. When the true figure emerges, the publication of this result would be an excellent launch pad to get the constitution changed.

Good luck with getting this repealed, and getting a secular constitution. Religion should play no part in the government of any country.

The law itself is unworkable anyway, surely. The existance of the Islamic religion, which denies that Jesus is the Son of God, could be seen to be grossly insulting to Christianity, so are they going to ban all expressions of Islam?

I had not realised the Irish constitution was quite so church-dominated! Ireland certainly needs a secular constitution (as does my own country, the UK, of course). I wish your campaign early success. Meanwhile, is there any chance the ECHR could declare the blasphemy law in violation of Irish citizens’ human rights?

Message of support from the UK. Secular is the only sensible policy. Government should be neutral in things religious. There should be no state funding of religion. No state funding of faith schools. And everyone should be absolutely free to believe in whatever mythical hokum they fancy. Freedom of religion and freedom from religion.

It seems odd that the USA is so far ahead of the UK and Ireland in their constitution, despite it being half full of nutjobs.

While one need look no further than the US, with its Constitution supposedly safeguarding against the “establishment of religion”, to see that an educated citizenry is the only true defense against the forces of superstition which are ever eager to drag humanity back into darkness. Still, it is shocking to learn that a Western Democracy should have as part of its Constitution such an anachronism.
You have my wholehearted support in your efforts to achieve Constitutionally protected freedom of expression.

I would like to publicly express my outrage over the existence of blasphemy laws in Ireland. Everyone, religious or not, knows that the conflict between religious views or none can produce offence, but there are already laws that deal with illegal expressions of such. This law criminalizes everyone, since there is no concensus on which path is ‘right’, and more importantly litigates against free speech and dissent from majority opinion. Which, bizarrely enough, makes this law blasphemous to me and therefore illegal itself.

How can a Law like that advance civilization? We need to look to the future and solve problems with critical thinking instead of being stuck in an archaic past. Ireland needs to become secular and only then will the people be free. You cannot fight a war by pretending it doesn’t exist!

And to celebrate Blasphemy day, I’ve decided to release all of my videos of Eucharist desecration on this website: http://www.crackergate.com/ . Feel free to download them and upload them anywhere. Bill Donohue will probably have a heart attack because of me, again.

Jesus Christ on a pogo-stick! Are you kidding me? Raising the degree of protection on religious criticism over any other kind of criticism is ridiculous in the extreme. Offense cannot be given, it can only be taken.

Time to throw away the ‘blanky’ and say bubye to your imaginary friends, Ireland. Come join us in the 21st century.

I thought the Western world was beyond this melding of religion to the apparatus of state, as both are lessened by the union. The state’s business is that of the merchant, getting down and in the dirt and dealing with the practicalities of day to day living — it does not belong in the temple. Moreover, when you give the temple the state’s muscle to enforce orthodox views, you slow (or even stop) that religion’s growth in understanding, it’s ability to adapt to changing world situations and apply the lessons of history to their own faith. You create a stagnant edifice doomed to die and, in its eventual death throes, likely take many innocents with it.

Make government secular and let God and His faithful see to their own affairs.

Just wanted to shout out some support from Norway! Our government was at the verge of implementing a new rule againgst the defamation of religion earlier this year, where “qualified attacs” on religion should be deemed illegal. Bloggers luckily cautght it, and the gov. had to turn back to the old “hateful speech” prohibition, that also applies to hates speech about sexual orientation, skin color, disabilities aso. The religion part still shouldn’t be there though; ideas don’t need rights, people do!

When I first heard about this I thought it was a joke. Unfortunately, it isn’t. This law belongs in the trash heap of history along with religion. This law is an egregious affront to the right of free speech of the Irish people. It strikes me as an act of desperation by the church and its allies in the Irish parliament to hang onto any kind of power they may still have. It’s obvious from the reaction that the majority of the people of Ireland are appalled at this idiotic law and want it repealed. A law like this has absolutely no place in a modern society. It does nothing but restrict the ability of the Irish people to express their opinions freely and openly. The Irish people should vote out anyone who approved this law at the next election to send a statement that Ireland and its people live in the 21st century, not the 12th.

I fully support your goal to remove the Irish blasphemy law and attain a secular Irish Constitution. Blasphemy laws are a step backwards and have no place in a modern society. I wish you every success with your campaign.

What a great idea! A secular constitution. We have one here in the U.S., but you wouldn’t know it from some of the silliness that theists try and push on the rest of the population that doesn’t see their specifically flavored world view.

Good luck, you have support from the U.S. Here is one more voice that will hopefully help reason to be heard.

I too wish you well in your endeavors and support your efforts to have the blasphemy laws repealed and to work towards a secular constitution for Ireland.
This law is wrong on so many levels and it needs to be shown as being unworkable and unfair.

A secular constitution is the way to go. No nation can call itself modern without separation of church and state. Whoever doesn’t have it belongs to the Middle Ages. Good luck to you Irishmen to have these stupîd blasphemy laws repealed. I think you showed in the past that you are real fighters. So fight the good fight for human rights… and win.

A secular constitution is the only way to go. A society cannot be truly democratic without freedom of ideas, all ideas, for everyone should be free to use their speech to influence the public debate. Blasphemy laws do not allow for this to happen.

Why should religion be given this special privilege? What will they pass next? Should offending members of a particular political party become a crime, too?

Unless atheists, humanists, and secularists are granted the right to speak their minds just like the religious, equality has not been achieved. What a shame.

As an Irishman living in Canada, it stupefies me to look back at my home being subjected to this nonsense. It seems the free state is becoming ever more the captive state.

As we are all aware Ireland is a cultural catholic nation but It is time for science literate, rational, reasonable people to start asserting themselves and standing to be counted.

It may not be a crime legally but it is a crime against open mindedness and freedom to impose such a antediluvian law. It is a short slippery slope from imposing a blasphemy law to outright religious totalitarianism, have these people never read 1984!

In the grand scheme of things a law like this can strangle any hopes that Ireland can retain its reputation as a scholarly, forward thinking nation. A secular constitution is essential to the progression of Ireland and its people.

God damn it! I am so disappointed to learn that Ireland has passed such a stupid archaic blasphemy law. This is a giant step backwards to the time when everyone trembled in fear of a belt from the crozier. At a time when Irish society is both more religiously diverse and more secular than ever before, this is unacceptable.

Best of luck in getting this medieval crap overturned and eventually getting a secular constitution!

That a country should not have got around to repealing an old blasphemy law is bad enough. That a country with pretensions to being a modern democracy should enact a new blasphemy law is incomprehensible.

Good luck with creating a constitution that protects real people, not imaginary ones.

Ireland is now one of the most ridiculous places on earth, on par with retarded backwaters such as fundamentalist Islamic countries. Why is insulting an imaginary entity a crime? Repeal this idiot law!

I’m not Irish, but I wish you all the best of luck in getting a secular constitution for your country. Ireland is part of the developed world, and deserves better than this. Happy blasphemy day, and keep working for your rights!

Best of luck to you and your cause. As an occasional guest of Ireland, it would be comforting to know that I was in a secular democratic republic. I can’t think of a cause more worth working towards.
Happy Blasphemy Day.

As a fellow European, and as a modestly competent user of the biological feature known as the human brain, I wholeheartedly support your effort to repeal this (or any) blasphemy law. Please, Ireland, do not make me ashamed to be an EU citizen… And what’s more… the nonsense may spread!
If I can be of help to you here in the Netherlands, please let me know!

Happy Blasphemy Day I find it astounding that this “dark age” law appeared in Ireland after over the past 15 years Ireland had made such progress in ridding itself of the shackles of evil catholicism that was prevalent throughout irish society and had a stranglehold over Irish “morals” for too long. Now with this backward Blasphemy law the Catholic Church will be then again be able to cover up it’s catalogue of abuses …it’s something the members of the Dial should hang their heads in shame over.

After freedom from Britain the next struggle for Ireland was the freedom from priests. Thie blasphemy law gives the Church the opportunity to claim back much of the power that the Irish people have taken from them. This law and the increased influence in education and social care that so called faith groups have been given in the UK shows that the aim of a secular state in both our countries is still a fight that must be continued.

I’m not sure how a Canadian ex-Mennonite can help other than by encouraging in your fight to get rid of this asinine blasphemy law. Maybe I can vote with my liver. Should I stop drinking Jameson’s, switch to Bushmills, or drink more of both? Keep fighting the good fight!

€25,000 fine for speaking your mind about religion…how perfectly stupid this is.
A state that takes away from its citizens the right to speak freely about any matter…is doomed.
Are your politicians elected and are they supposed to do the will of the people that elected them?
I believe this is the first step in communism and fascism…you are not allowed to speak against whatever.
How much popular support is there for this law?
Can you petition your government for redress?
Will you enjoy being the laughingstock of democratic states?
This is an action by a government that requires revolution if common sense arguments fail to stop the law. It cannot be allowed to stand.

cant say ought that hasnt been said here. all i know is that a huge part of irelands political and secterian troubles is unquestionably because of such nonsence. you can trace it back to the introduction of christianity to this island. while there at it why dont they start burning suspected witches at the stake again

I support you wholeheartedly, although from Switzerland. Ireland’s “new” blasphemy law would be ridiculous if it weren’t so gravid of consequences, nationally and internationally, as you so well explain here.

A secular constitution would be an excellent (if not infallible! witness the US) safeguard against precisely this conniving of politics with vested religious interests.

I very much agree with the goals of secularising our constitution, and removing the role of the religious orders within our education and health systems. Ireland is growing up as a modern European nation, and these artifacts of our history, as witnessed in the recent blasphemy controversy, as well as the terrible legacy of the Ryan report, tell us powerfully that government and administration must be for the people, by the people.

The task is incredibly difficult. Ireland is a conservative country with little appetite for change. Fianna Fail has been in power in one form or another, almost constantly, over the last 25 years, and I have strong suspicions that Fine Gael would have any major desire for change either. The answer we will continally get back is ” what’s the harm?”.

Separating church and state is a desired goal, because it demonsrstes that all people in this country are treated equally, irrespective of whether they are Hindu, Orthodox, Jew, Protestant, Catholic or atheist. Having our Dail deputies say prayers and defend blasphemy laws sends out all the wrong messages.

This blasphemy law is simply special pleading on the part of religion. They have the right to believe in whatever invisible friend they like, and I’ll vigorously defend that right to my dying breath. However, the minute they try and tell me what I can and cannot say about their beliefs, they can bloody well f*** off. They are very quick to condemn atheism, but can’t take similar criticism themselves. It makes me embarassed to admit I’m Irish.

Having being brought up in a repressive era (1950’s) and having experienced the Catholic education system good & bad (mostly bad especially at primary level), I welcome the move towards a secular Constitution and support the campaign for the repeal of the blasphemy law.

Are the government trying to drag us back into the past? I think so, but that time has passed and they’d better wake up to that fact.

You have my whole-hearted support in any and all efforts to repeal this ludicrous nonsense.
Religion is dead-weight, a crutch mankind is no longer in need of; the sooner we embrace
secular humanism as the only rational way to live a moral life, the better off we’ll be.

Best wishes to you in your effort to repeal this ridiculous law, and pursue a secular constitution. Free expression pays off in ways that are difficult to predict, from innovation to reconciliation. Power tends to accumulate when ideas are protected from ridicule.

The blasphemy laws are clearly unethical and insane. No nation should move to protect any institution from the free speech of it’s people, no matter how sacred they hold the subject. I find large swaths of religious belief and speech to be astoundingly offensive, but I would never seek to have my (or any) government attempt to suppress them.

Being an O’Brien on my mother’s side and having been proud of my Irish ancestry, I was appalled at the passage of the blasphemy law in Ireland, and I strongly support your efforts in aid of a secular Constitution.

You guys have my warm blessing (if you’ll forgive me the religious sounding word) for your effort to get the blasphemy law off the books and to get a secular constitution for Ireland. The country would be much better for it.

I have daughter that lives on the green island and now grand children who are Irish. I now fear her adopted country will be the laughing stock of the EU as Ireland slides back into the abyss of religious intolerance……what next “The Irish Inquisition” ?

The Irish are being retarded in their intellectual development by a widespread and barbaric belief in the supernatural. Belief in the supernatural is based on ignorence, and is perpetuated by brain-washing and indocrination.
The country cannot become secular soon enough, nor can it afford to have it’s strings pulled by the Catholic Church any longer.

Why do we need to get rid of the Constitution when it can merely be altered by referendum?
I’d also like to situate what do you mean about a secular constitution, does it extend to issues like legalising abortion, or changing the definition of marriage or is it only to remove explicitly Christian references from the Constitution?

I agree broadly with the introduction of a secular consitution for Ireland. DeValera’s constitution was neither a forward looking document or an easily amended document. For these two reasons I believe it would be best to replace it. Also it is imperative that the blasphemy law must be repealed, its existence should be cause for great concern to each and every citizen (even the staunchly religious ones) as it represents a severe constraint on Freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It threatens to curtail our authors, artists, reporters and general public discourse on matters of religion. This law would have seen Salman Rushdie fined €25,000 for publishing the Satanic Versus. Not good enough in a modern republic. I believe we need to redefine the nature of marrige and its societal status, the laws on abortion, the roles of women and see finally the removal of any references to the Catholic church.

In this day an age we need to move into the 21st century and not backward,the blasphemy law was made for another place and another time,such circumstances are long behind us, given the abuses that have come to light by the supposedly holy order of the land it is vital above all that our right to criticise religion is unimpeded it is the natural right of a denizen of a democratic land.I would hope to see our right to freely speak maintained…

This is so very annoying on so many levels. The country is in the midst of a series of problems and the politicians decide to come up with this absurd nonsense! Oh my goodness HOW CAN ONE NOT DESPAIR?

Shame on the government and politicians they are truly unbelievable. What kind of idiots and frankly shittttt heads would have voted in such a law?

I AM MAD AS HECK – for now anyone can object to anything so long as they can argue that someone has expressed views or ideas that = “Grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion”

what kind of an effing twit cameup with such crap and then got others to actually agree to it?

SHAME ON THE POLITICIANS OF EIRE- THEY ARE A DISGRACE AND AN EMBARRASSMENT

I have long felt the need to repeal certain clauses in our constitution, particularily those giving special recognition to a certain Christian sect. This in itself has been a major stumbling block on the road to Unification. Our constitution should protect the right of all our citizens to worship according to their beliefs, or not, as the case may be. We need a secular constitution to prove to the world at large that we as a Nation have matured, and to protect the people from the kind of subjucation previously inflicted upon the nation by a certain Christian sect.
I fully support your endeavours to have this “witch hunt” era law repealed and hope that the people of Ireland will see sense and call for a secular constitution.

A blasphemy law has no place in the 21st century, we’re supposed to be a secular republic and now, once again, the church and state are pulling together to take away more rights from people. This is a dangerous and backwards law that needs to be repealed.

Ireland needs a new secular constitution clearly separating church and state. I cannot believe the government is bringing in a new blasphemy law in the wake of the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandals. Do they never learn?

This law was a real shock to me when I found out about it! I thought that Ireland was leaving religious intolerance behind and embracing the future, now I find that the Irish government is regressing to a repressive religious past. Don’t certain other countries have laws like this Blasphemy Law? Saudi Arabia? Iran? Yemen? Too bad, this is going to cost the Irish economy in lost tourist dollars.

We need to end the stranglehold the church has on this country. I am a catholic but find it unbelievable in this day and age that the angelas is played before the R.T.E. 6 o clock news, that pubs are closed on good friday that the catholic church THE IRISH MAFIA are still running this countries hospitals and schools, our government who are elected unlike priests or bishops are shareing a peadophilic bed with the catholic church.

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